"Avatar" Tops $1B Mark, Could Sink "Titanic"

Director Cameron scores second billion-dollar pic

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"Avatar" topped $1 billion at the box office, and is on pace to break the record set by "Titanic."

Mega-budget blockbuster "Avatar" cruised past the $1 billion box office benchmark, making it the fourth biggest movie ever and director James Cameron's second flick to reach the magic number.

Worldwide ticket sales topped $200 million during the New Year holiday weekend bringing overall sales to $1.02 billion just 17 days after opening. Cameron's 1997 hit "Titanic" is the highest-grossing movie of all time at $1.8 billion, and the only other billion dollar movies are "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "The Dark Knight."

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"Leave it to James Cameron to do this. To not only set the technical world on fire, the visual world on fire, but also the box-office world on fire 12 years after 'Titanic,"' Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the New York Daily News.

"Avatar," about a disabled ex-Marine who convinces aliens on planet Pandora to allow his employers to mine their natural resources, was also the most expensive film ever made, with a reported budget of $300 to $500 million.

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The long-awaited 3D epic has earned $352 million domestically. While its numbers have been aided by higher ticket prices for 3D screenings, it is on pace to shatter the record set by "Titanic."

"This is like a freight train out of control," said Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston.